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Friday, November 6, 2015

The progressive members of PAS left PAS and formed Amanah to continue cooperation with DAP and PKR. Why? Because cooperation of DAP and PKR become very problematic recent months especially with Abdul Hadi Awang leading PAS.

And some PAS members had been screaming for those who left PAS to form Amanah to resign their elected offices plus divorce their wives. But are their demands justified?

My opinions. PAS contested in past elections against UMNO BN in cooperation with DAP and PKR as Pakatan Rakyat plus the Common Policies Platform. This cooperation and Common Policies did not provide for Hudud. And certainly not one component party (PAS) leaving Pakatan Rakyat to form a Selangor State Government with the tainted UMNO BN.

And now Husam Musa, the former PAS Vice President, have come out to confirm what many already have accepted as fact that Hadi had conspired to leave Pakatan Rakyat to form Selangor State Government with UMNO BN with cooperation from a few PKR ADUNs after the 2013 elections (correction, it seemed it was during the Selangor Mentri Besar crisis when PAS was in loggerhead with DAP and PKR about removing Khalid as Mentri Besar).

That is clear cut betrayal of DAP, PKR, Pakatan Rakyat and especially those who voted for the opposition in the 2013 elections. So now with you tell me, with this, who should resign from their elected offices and divorce their wives?

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Why is Katak Ibrahim Ali (katak = frog) laughing? First, why is Ibrahim Ali commonly denigrated as a katak (frog). It was his habit of first wining an elected post with one party, then subsequently changing political party. That is, he, like a frog, jump from one party to another. Malaysians are particularly sore that he won the parliamentary seat of Pasir Mas on a PAS ticket(opposition) in the 2008 General Election, but subsequently leaped over to the much despised ruling Barisan Nasional.

So why is Ibrahim laughing? Because a significant number of Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen have removed them from PAS and subsequently joining newly formed Parti Amanah Negara, and another over to PKR intenting to form a new opposition coalition. So he claimed that his accusers have become katak themselves. So does that make Katak Ibrahim Ali "innocent"?

But Ibrahim Ali should wipe that smile on his face because these elected members didn't jump from an opposition party over to the ruling party. They jumped from PAS, component of the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat, but they intend to still continue as opposition in "Pakatan 2.0".

Their big difference from Katak Ibrahim Ali is that Katak Ibrahim Ali jumped from opposition party to that despised ruling party, a world of difference. So Katak Ibrahim Ali, you are still an incorrigible Katak.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

PAS has been pushing for progressive members who joined the newly announced PAN (Parti Amanah Negara) to resign from their elected posts as MPs and ADUNs plus divorce their wifes.

This is my opinion. PAS members who contested in the 2013 General Elections contested and won while PAS was a component party of Pakatan Rakyat plus a manifesto that mentioned welfare state and which did not include Hudud. Voters voted for them because they contested on a PR "ticket".

When PAS reneged on the above, those who wants to continue with the Pakatan Rakyat spirit were thus forced to form a new party PAN that will continue to be a component party of PR, thus PAN is that original "PAS" (PAS Asal) which were with Pakatan Rakyat in 2013. Thus MPs and ADUNs of the newly formed PAN need not resign their elected posts nor divorce their wifes.

On the contrary, it is those MPs and ADUNs still remaining in PAS that need to resign as voters did not vote for them as an independent party and is no more that same PAS within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

May I ask Nur Jazlan a simple question, what State is Kuala Lumpur? The sneaky BN had resorted to making Kuala Lumpur "Wilayah Persekutuan" (Federal Territory) and removing all State constituencies knowing well they would not be able to win. But clearly Kuala Lumpur IS Opposition in character because of the 11 elected Members of Parliament, 9 are from Federal Opposition and a mere 2 are from BN. (Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 13th Malaysian Parliament)

And morally speaking, the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur should be elected by these 11 Members of Parliament.

2008 and prior years, many Christians were hypersensitive if anything even remotely "political" were to be discussed or events even remotely "political" were allowed to take place in the Church. True or not I do not know, but I heard the pastor of St. Paul's Church in Petlaing Jaya allowed an event where politicians from the ruling Barisan Nasional party and the opposition presented their case so that voters can make informed decisions during elections. It was a bipartisan event with the Church not supporting any side. But I heard the congregation was in uproar to the extend the Pastor had to leave to lead another Church. (The Christian and the General Election: Core Issues)

And today I read that Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Reverend Julian Leow said Christians had the right to make a stand on matters they were concerned about. "It is their inalienable right as citizens to deliberate, communicate and act on matters of societal concern, be they political, social or economical," said Leow who is also the archbishop of Kuala Lumpur. (Uphold justice, bishops urge Malaysian Catholics in Merdeka Day message)

Malaysia's worst Prime Minister Najib Razak proclaimed in his "Merdeka" speech that he will not let the nation down. How is that even possible? He already has let Malaysia down by his bad governance of the nation. He has spouted great flowery speeches but did the opposite of what he claims he want to do. He promised transparency but delivered the opposite. He promised to fight corruption but .... you can complete the rest yourself.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

The first BERSIH mass protest in 2007 was a huge contrast to what was experienced from the peaceful BERSIH 4 in 2015. Armed police presence including the red helmetted FRU bearing rifles and shields were highly visible, but police presence was hardly felt this round, in any case in areas where I was present.

In Bersih 1, protestors were met with police vans and Black Marias standing ready to send protestors to lockups. In Bersih 4, protestors are offered free drinks and food from food trucks:

In Bersih 1, you will see police armed with revolvers stationed all around Kuala Lumpur, but in Bersih 4, a volunteer holds up the welcoming sign offering free medical attention and free food and drinks at St John's Cathedral:

In Bersih 1, as you turn the corner from Pasar Seni to Lebuh Pasar Besar towards Loke Yew Building, you will be greeted by menacing looking and armed FRU red helmetted riot squad, but in Bersih 4, you have many peaceful protestors holding up posters illustraing the ills of Malaysia, unhindered by the Police:

In Bersih 1, the presence of Malay Muslims donning white kopiah were overwhelming, but in Bersih 4, unfortunately they were not highly visible

Update: Ideally, we Malaysians should not be referring to race at all as good governance and corruption has no skin color. A commentator said BERSIH 1 80% Malays, but BERSIH that 80% attended but % diluted to 30% because of a huge turnout of non-Malays. Likely correct because of the huge increase in participants for BERSIH 4.

In Bersih 1, Dr. Mahathir who was then Prime Minister denigrated Bersih protestors, but in Bersih 4, he with wife participated in the protest although for only a short while:

Update: Unfortunately the peaceful nature of BERSIH 4 disturbed by a news update. Received news that FRU personnels were arresting Bersih 4 T-shirted protestors at Stathuys in Malacca.

BERSIH 2.0 is now well funded. There were some big tents a Medan Pasar with what appears to be like air coolers or air conditioners. Not sure if they were meant for BERSIH 4 or for the national Merdeka activities:

BERSIH 4 is a world of difference from BERSIH 1 in 2007. BERSIH 4 2015, churches and temples were opened to demonstrators as a sanctuary to rest and pray.

At St. John's Cathedral, a first aid center with doctors, nurses, general helpers, stretchers, beds, drips, medicine, beds, oxygen, all ready in case any demonstrator needs medical intervention.

There were many portable toilets in more than 1 locations inside Church. For tired, thirsty and hungry demonstrators, there is drinking water aplenty, free mandarin oranges, free buns, a food truck. See photos below:

Welcome tent with free mandarin oranges and drinking water

Directions to the toilets, first aid and medical center

Plenty portable toilets with a sewage tanker I think

More portable toilets

Even more portable toilets. First aid and medical center entrance at left hand corner

Friday, August 28, 2015

From a WhatsApp forward. How to bypass the block on websites posting updates on BERSIH 4 rally by MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Malay: Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia)

However, I have been able to access bersih.org, so hopefully you would not need the hack described below:

Bersih websites have been blocked. U may unblock them by the following steps:
1) go to https://sitenable.com or google search : sitenable
2) key in http://www.bersih.org or any blocked websites in "Search URL " box. And...BINGO!!!👌

Forward it to all your friends!!
For those who want to access Sarawak Report as well

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Johor Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage committee chairman Datuk Zulkunain Kamisan said Yayasan Warisan Johor (YWJ) has been tasked to undertake the patenting procedures of a traditional apparel, a traditional musical group, two cultural dances and a traditional dish as Johor's heritage. But I am not sure that they can.

From what I know about patent, the basic ingredient is novelty. If the subject of the patent are existing apparel, music group, dances, dish (food), they are no longer novel. On this basis, Johor is wasting their time. What they can do I believe is they can try to copyright them. I think Malaysia has a "lesser form" of patent. I think if something cannot be patented, I think they can try to register it as an Utility Innovation. Let's see.

Saturday, August 1, 2015

UMNO/BN is now hammering on the point that it was the opposition parties that opposed disclosure of their funders. And Najib who is currently under a big dark cloud of suspicions, have come out to proclaim that he is prepared to declare UMNO's funders if the opposition is prepared to do likewise?

Malaysia badly needs transparency regarding political funding, but just why are the opposition parties reluctant to do so? To me, it is clear, it is because of the uneven playing field, the fact that practically every institution of importance (Election Commissions, Registra of Societies, Police, the mainstream media, MACC etc) in Malaysia is under a cloud of suspicions that they are not impartial. Not forgetting power abuses such as punishing opposition funders by withholding license, contracts and business whereas UMNO/BN funders would have no worries in this area.

Take the Election Commission and the blatant case of Najib recorded on video his "I help you, you help me" case in Sibu for example. Did the Election Commission do anything? And the blatant use of government facilities for campaigning during elections. That is clearly wrong but the EC just looked the other way.

Whereas because power is currently in UMNO/BN's hands. Business and individuals will not worry about their funding activities revealed as they would never be punished, on the other hand they probably would be rewarded. Not only that, there is a cap on the amount of funds that can be used in campaigning during elections. UMNO/BN could probably exceed it, even opening I think, and the EC would probably not act. For example, when it was revealed that a huge amount of money was banked into Najib's account which Najib did not deny but only said he did not take money for personal use. He probably was trying to say the money was used for political purposes, but did the EC do anything as very likely, the cap on political funding was breached.

Monday, July 27, 2015

And, judging by the developments last night, Muhyiddin has agreed to these terms and conditions. And that signal of his agreement was when Muhyiddin fired his first shot at Najib. So, over the next week or so, we should be seeing Dr Mahathir remove the suspense by openly endorsing Muhyiddin as Najib’s successor.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was not a matter of if but more a matter of when Muhyiddin would start shooting. If Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin wants to take over as Prime Minister when Najib Tun Razak is ousted — if he is successfully ousted, that is — then he has to earn that job. It is not going to be served to him on a silver platter.

That was basically the same term and condition that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave both Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Najib when the Grand Old Man of Malaysian politics made his move to oust Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi nine years ago.

Dr Mahathir wanted Najib to make his move on Abdullah and openly challenge the Prime Minister. But Najib would not. Instead, Najib openly pledged his support for the Prime Minister and this pissed Dr Mahathir off big time.

Since Najib would not earn the job by taking on Abdullah, then he was not going to become Prime Minister. Dr Mahathir was not going to serve Najib the post of Prime Minister on a silver platter. Najib must work for it if he wanted that job.

So Dr Mahathir decided to by-pass Najib and talk to Tengku Razaleigh instead. But there was just too much history between Dr Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh that it was not easy to wash away all that bad blood. Hence Tengku Razaleigh, too, would have to earn that job.

And the way Tengku Razaleigh would have to earn the job of Prime Minister would be he would have to agree to the setting up of a presidential council that would ‘guide’ him on how the country would be run.

Tengku Razaleigh saw this as a move to make him a proxy prime minister with a de facto prime minister that would pull all the strings behind the scenes. In short, he would be a nominee or puppet of Dr Mahathir. So he said no. If he were to become the prime minister then he would call the shots and decide what to do. No one was going to make him a puppet prime minister.

With Tengku Razaleigh’s rejection, Dr Mahathir dumped him and went back to Najib. But Najib would have to agree to proceed with the Crooked Bridge to Singapore plus a few other terms and conditions that involved his son, Mukhriz, and Proton — making sure the government continues to support the ailing national car and not allow it to die.

But Najib did not do what Dr Mahathir made him promise to do. And, to add insult to injury, Najib went and appointed Khairy Jamaluddin a cabinet minister — instead of killing off his political career — thus putting an obstacle in Mukhriz’s way.

So, while everyone knows that Dr Mahathir wants Najib ousted — that is not a secret because Dr Mahathir has openly said so — he did not make it clear who is going to be the one who is going to take over as prime minister. He left the matter of the successor in suspense.

It could be Muhyiddin or it could be someone else. However, if Muhyiddin wants the job, then he has to earn it. It is not going to be given to him free-of-charge. And to earn it Muhyiddin must openly challenge Najib. And then he must agree to become a proxy prime minister with a de facto prime minister behind him running the country.

And, judging by the developments last night, Muhyiddin has agreed to these terms and conditions. And that signal of his agreement was when Muhyiddin fired his first shot at Najib. So, over the next week or so, we should be seeing Dr Mahathir remove the suspense by openly endorsing Muhyiddin as Najib’s successor.

And is this what Nazir is suggesting? If so then je suis Nazir. Let us explain to those who believe in God that there is no evidence that God exists and the many religions that we fight and kill each other over are downright lies and did not come from a non-existent God.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

(Malay Mail Online, 26 July 2015) – Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said today that he was not standing up for The Edge in particular when he criticised the suspension of the business papers, but for freedom of expression.

“It’s not for those people,” said Nazir, who is CIMB Group chairman and brother of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, referring to The Edge.

“What am I standing for? Freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, that is all,” he told reporters after attending an Aidilfitri open house organised by former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

*************************************************

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s brother, Nazir, supports freedom of opinion and freedom of expression. He has criticised the three-month suspension of The Edge, not so much because he agrees with what that newspaper wrote but more to defend its right to say what they said.

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it,” said Voltaire, the 17th-18th century French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher who was famous for his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.

I would say, “Je suis Nazir.” It is time that Malaysians understood and accept the meaning of freedom of opinion and freedom of expression. In a civil society there should no longer be any sacred cows that are out of bounds from comment and criticism. We should be free to express our thoughts and views.

I find that Malays are not the only community that takes offense with views that run contra to their beliefs. Chinese, Indians and all the others are just the same. If you say something that contradicts their belief they would take it as a challenge and an insult. You are free to express your view as long as it is not seen as challenging their view.

Whenever I give my view on Christianity the Christians would accuse me of insulting Christianity and would demand to know why am I attacking their religion. Just like the Malays, any view that contradicts their own would be seen as an insult and an attack. And any contradicting view on Islam may even attract a violent and physical response in some countries.

I consider Christianity a lie and I have said so many times. And Christians do not like me saying this. I have explained in the past why I think Christianity is a lie so no need for me to repeat it here. Suffice to say that there is no historical evidence that Jesus existed other than the so-called ‘evidence’ in the Gospels, and even then only in the New Testament.

There were scores of historians around that period who reported all sorts of events of that time but none reported the story of Jesus. And considering, according to the Bible, it was definitely an earth-shattering event, then surely at least one historian would have reported what can be considered a very important event in those days.

However, none of the famous historians mention Jesus although they mention so many other even lesser events of the day. And even those one or two historians who were alleged to have made a passing remark about Jesus have been debunked as fakes and forgeries.

So, if you go by historical records outside the Gospels, Jesus did not exist. And if Jesus did not exist then the Bible and Christianity could not exist as well. Christianity was a fabrication over hundreds of years, created as a political tool and a means to control the population. It did not come from God.

Freedom of opinion and expression means you must be allowed to say this without being threatened or accused of insulting Christianity or of attacking religion. Disagreeing is the very essence of freedom of opinion and expression. And if you have grounds for having the opposite view then you must be allowed to express them.

This principle does not only apply to Christianity. It applies to all religions, Islam included. Did the Qur’an really come from God or Allah? Was the Qur’an even Arabic in the first place or was it written in some other language that was ‘Arabised’ over the centuries?

Is the inscription in the Dome of the Rock really ‘Islamic’ or does it actually refer to Jesus? A reinterpretation of the inscription could point to Jesus rather than Muhammad because muhammad with a small ‘m’ would mean Jesus. Read that inscription again with muhammad as an adjective rather than a proper noun and see what you get.

These are views that some people hold. And these views suggest that not only Christianity does not exist but Islam does not as well. But because Islam and Muhammad are sacred cows that attract a violent and physical response, people do not want to bother talking about their views.

However, if we want a society where freedom of opinion and expression are paramount, then it has to be no holds barred. The principle should be, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”

And is this what Nazir is suggesting? If so then je suis Nazir. Let us explain to those who believe in God that there is no evidence that God exists and the many religions that we fight and kill each other over are downright lies and did not come from a non-existent God.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Wow lots of things happening in Malaysia, bad things as well as good things. Let's focus on the good things. Today Malaysiakini, a subscription based online news website, has realeased lots of their password content as free to read articles.

And one of them is Dr. Mahathir asking why when the tax department has not investigated the current Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak when so much conspicuous lavish spending by Najib, Rosmah, Rosmah's son Riza Aziz, etc. has been reported.

Monday, June 8, 2015

When many claimed RPK has turned, I was still reading his articles since he seemed to have very good sources of information. But his articles recently has caused me to read his articles much more cautiously. And especially today's "not cheong hei" article: Malaysia Today: The silence is deafening

I commented: "Suppose the government (rakyat) sell a piece of land to you for RM1,000, then you go borrow RM1 billion. Finally you sell the land for RM1 billion and pay back the debt so now you are debt free but now minus the land. Good exchange don't you agree?". The comment was deleted.

I will follow his style of copy-pasting portion of other people's article and giving a link back, but do go read it yourself:

The ball is now at Dr Mahathir’s feet. Many are waiting to hear his latest response to this new development. Is this new development going to satisfy him that 1MDB is not in the deep shit he says it is? Or is he still going to insist that 1MDB is a dead duck just like Perwaja with no hope in sight?

I am still recovering from my flu (at my age it seems to take much longer to get over your ailments) so no long cheong hei article from me today. All I want to say is today 1MDB paid off RM3.6 billion of its RM42 billion debts but no one seems to be reporting this event.

I would have thought that since 1MDB seems to revolve around some people’s lives as if only 1MDB and nothing else in this world matters, by now the internet, social media and online news portals would be buzzing with this news. But no, what I see instead is total silence and the silence is certainly deafening.

Maybe they need time to try to figure out how to spin this news with a negative slant. Tony Pua will probably want to know which Arab loan shark 1MDB borrowed the money from while Rafizi Ramli may want to get his hands on the bank statements first before saying anything.

So it looks like RM42 billion has not disappeared into thin air after all. If it has then where has this RM3.6 billion come from? I was told we should expect to see more billions appearing soon as more assets are converted into cash. This is 1MDB’s way of proving that RM42 billion has not disappeared into thin air but has been converted into assets which can easily be converted back into cash if required.

Anyway, this sort of makes any dialogue on 1MDB irrelevant since events are rapidly overtaking the issues to be discussed. And if PAC does not hurry up with its investigation and report the whole exercise may be rendered purely academic in the end.

Many people, critics as well as supporters of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, say that settling the controversy surrounding 1MDB is a must if he wants to remain in office. PAS has already demanded Najib’s resignation by Hari Raya. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad cannot wait till Hari Raya. He wants Najib’s resignation yesterday.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Azeez (real name Kalimuthu a/l Panddiyappa" is the apple polishing Chairman of Lembaga Tabung Haji whom some claimed that his appointment was a result of Rosmah Mansur's insistence. He was so grateful that he was photographed kissing the hand of Rosmah Mansur.

Because of the anger of many Muslims that he and his board had used the Tabung Haji fund to pay in cash for a piece of the toxic 1MDB, he was forced to announce that on the advice of Najib, the land will be sold to other third parties.

Apparently that wasn't enough to appease the anger that Cheras Umno Secretary Syed Mehdhar Syed Abdullah was quoted to say Abdul Azeez was a liability to the party and he should resign or be sacked as Chairman of Tabung Haji.

Here is another ethical opportunity to read the subscription based Malaysiakini without being a subscriber. Malaysiakini has published another free to read for all article: Najib's 'ask why' goes awry.

In the article, Najib was reported as telling the students "....education is not just about learning specific facts and figures. It is about thinking widely around a subject, and questioning. "Asking: 'why?' Being able to see both sides of an argument. Allowing your minds to open and develop, and for learning to be a voyage of discovery," but was then bombarded by the students turning the table on him with quotes like:

"When we, the young generation ask why, you slapped us with sedition law. Walk the talk, don't la walk then hide. Still support AI (Anwar Ibrahim)."

"That's what we are asking. Why money missing in 1mdb? Why misuse GLC to bailout 1MDB? Why practice racist politics? Why the Malaysian ringgit going down so much? Why cost of living went up drastically? Why government debts piles up?"

Saturday, April 18, 2015

The Barisan Nasional federal government messing up Malaysia's governance and finance is now affecting UMMC (Universiti Malaya Medical Center, also called PPUM or Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya) with its annual budget cut by RM120 million from RM387 million to RM267 million.

This is expected to have much negative consequences to the care to patients by the teaching hospital as well as the quality of education to its medical students and housemen. Wonder which institution or service will be hit next.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Malaysia currently is actively debating the amendments to the Sedition Act which many will agree is draconian. And today, Malaysiakini has again published a free article so even non-subscribers can read. The article is How the British scrapped their Sedition laws

Extract: This was where it was first established that for the crime of sedition, truth was no defence and intention was irrelevant as was whether there was any actual harm done, which is still the cornerstone of the principles of sedition in modern day Malaysia 409 years later today.

The Sedition Act is worded so vaguely that almost anything can be termed seditous. The person accused of sedition may be stating the truth as you can see in the extract above. No harm may have been done, but that too is irrelevant.

They issued a joint statement listing among many others
. Non-Muslims are involved if victim
. East Malaysians didn't sign up for syariah when they joined Malaysia
. All have rights to discuss Hudud
. Might is not right

This joint statement is endorsed by an impressive list of 93 organizations:

Monday, April 6, 2015

We had misgivings regarding Azmin Ali as Selangor Mentri Besar (Chief Minister) before but it looks like our misgivings are unfounded for Azmin is proving to be quite a competent Mentri Besar. We have The Malay Mail Online reporting that Azmin will expand Selangor's public transport rather than build more highways. This is exactly what the thinking public wants rather than more tolled highways like what the Federal Government had been doing and is proposing to build even more tolled highways.

Since the unfortunate helicopter crash at Semenyih that resulted in the untimely death of the late Rompin MP Jamaluddin Jarjis and 5 others, many had been wondering who the late Aidana Baizieva was.

Till now that is. The late Aidan Baizieva was a Kazakhstan citizen as confirmed by Kyrgyzstan embassy and her remains were claimed by mystery woman who arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary with a Toyota Vios with a man believed to be a representative from the Kazakhstan embassy (source: The Malaysian Insider).

As the helicopter were carrying 6 passengers and pilot from Najib's daughter and son-in-law reception in Pekan, could Aidana Baizieva be also related to Najib's new son-in-law Daniyar Nazarbayev? (source: Free Malaysia Today: Najib’s future son-in-law a ‘conman’?).

Update 4.15pm 6 April 2015: The Malaysian Insider says identity of last victim Aidana Baizieva yet to be confirmed.

Monday, March 23, 2015

The great and admired Lee Kuan Yew passed away today at 3.18am and Singapore enters a new period without his presence. His rule reminded me of a General Paper essay I had wrote in Form 6 about democracy where I wrote democracy is but a rule by the average intelligence population and a BENEVOLENT dictator will do better.

A leader in a true democracy needs to gets his mandate every few years from voters whose intelligence is as distributed similar to a normal curve, very few highly intelligent people at one end, few low IQ people at the opposite and the great majority average intelligence in the middle.

Because a leader in a democracy needs to get his mandate from the voters which majority are of average intelligence, a democracy is but a rule by the average intelligence. A leader in a democracy may be forced to implement popular policies which may not be of long term benefits to the country.

A benevolent dictator who has the best interest of the people at heart to me is a better choice, but God help us if we get a dictator who ruled for his own interest. To me, the late Lee Kuan Yew is a good example of "guided democracy" where the people are wise enough to elect and reelect such a benevolent dictator.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

I have sat through the video, 3 things you probably don't know about Islam and its main points can be summarized as
1. There are contradictions in the Quran but Quran has provided a way to handle contradictions: if there are contradictions, the later verses will override the earlier verses
2. It is the obligation of every Muslim to strive till Sharia is imposed in the whole world (creeping Islam)
3. It is OK to lie to a non-Muslim as long as it advances the interest of Islam (Taqiya)

I have not read the Quran, perhaps later when I have done, but have found an article where they quote verses from the Quran at Lying (Taqiyya and Kitman). The verses are not quoted verbatim but explanations. However, since the verses are numbered it will be easy to refer to the Quran to look up the verses and this is what I intend to do when I get my hands on the free copy of translation of the Quran and I would encourage you to do the same.

Note that in 2011, PAS had pushed the Welfare State and the slogan PAS for all, supposedly to appease non-Muslims and now has turned around and pushed to impose Hudud despite strong objections from its allies in DAP.

Footnote: There don't seem to be any reference to lying to non-Muslims to advance the interest of Islam in Wikipedia: Taqiya, only mentions of lying in time of dangers, so this may mean we really have to read the Quran for ourself to establish the truth.